Fed chief Ben Bernanke admitted he has an unemployed relative and that the house in which he grew up has been foreclosed on during the post-FOMC press conference on Wednesday. The Chairman stuck to his playbook, reaffirming that QE and record-low interest rates are here to stay, adding that while some of his colleagues are concerned about the possible risks of his unconventional policy, he isn’t.

Asked by a reporter when was the last time he had spoken to someone who was unemployed, Bernanke responded “pretty recently, I have a relative [who lost his job].” The Chairman went further, reminding those in the conference room he had grown up in a small town in South Carolina, and that the house where he was raised was just foreclosed on.

Adding a little color to usually stale monetary policy discussions, Bernanke defended his tenure at the Fed and called for continued monetary easing. Speaking of the unemployment rate specifically, the Chairman explained the FOMC isn’t “satisfied,” but that they “don’t have more firepower” to push joblessness down.

In its rate setting statement, the FOMC announced it will continue to purchase $85 billion-per month in Treasuries and residential mortgage-backed securities until the labor market “has improved substantially,” while interest rates will be kept in the zero-range “as long as the unemployment rate remains above 6-1/2 percent, inflation between one and two years ahead is projected to be no more than a half percentage point above the Committee's 2 percent longer-run goal.” Markets trended higher on the news, but most of it had been telegraphed.

Thus, market participants were looking to the press conference to try to get any clues about Bernanke and the Fed’s general direction. The Chairman did acknowledge the economy is doing better, responding to a question with “obviously there has been improvement, let me say that”

Yet the unemployment rate remains elevated and growth has lagged, justifying, in the eyes of the Chairman, further easing. Bernanke spoke of months of more than 300,000 jobs added during the tepid recovery, only to see the number drop again, explaining the Fed is trying to make sure the recent uptick in jobs growth “isn’t temporary.”

Bernanke was quick to separate stocks’ recent record highs from Fed policy directly, but did tell reporters the Dow’s record high is purely a nominal figure, as it hasn’t hit all-time highs in inflation corrected terms. At the same time, he said stocks were reacting to a better economic environment, and also spoke of the improvement in housing markets, with rising home prices helping many attain positive equity on their properties. The Chairman also spoke about the famous “sell in May and go away” adage, attributing it possibly to seasonal factors tied to the financial crisis, and noting that is appears to be currently connected to fundamental factors.

With the European sovereign debt crisis making headlines again, Bernanke was also asked about Cyprus. He reassured market participants that given the island-nation’s small economic size, it should have no effect on the U.S. economy, but did mention the possibility of contagion, which could in turn affect the U.S. This led Bernanke to touch on the role of financial institutions in the economy, where he took a hit at former Fed Chairman Paul Vocker, saying he exaggerated when he said the financial industry’s only contribution to the economy had been the automatic teller machine.

The issue of Too Big To Fail (TBTF) also came up on several occasions. Bernanke said it wasn’t a closed issue, and pointed to capital as an important element in addressing it. While the Fed doesn’t have a precise calculation of the implicit subsidy TBTF institutions have, he did say he agrees with Elizabeth Warren that “the problem is not solved and gone.”

The Chairman also touched on the issue of succession, saying on several occasions that he has no news to add on that front. He did confirm he had recently spoken with the President. Interestingly, Bernanke also touched on the Fed’s exit strategy, saying he’s not the “only person in the world that can manage the exit.” Bernanke admitted he failed in “depersonalizing” monetary policy, lauding his staff and the Federal Reserve as an institution.

Shares gained on Wednesday’s statement and Bernanke’s press conference. Major banks were mixed on the day, though, with names like Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America making their way higher in the aftermath of Bernanke’s press conference, while others like JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo made small gains but then fell back into negative territory. The yield on 10-year Treasuries stood at 1.96% in New York while gold traded at $1,606.50 an ounce.